Nigerian Humanist, Harry Nwana, turned 83 in February. I visited him at his local residence in Lagos to congratulate and celebrate with him. In the course of our discussion, Harry, who is a long time member of the Rationalist Press Association in the UK, repeated a request he had made on several occasions in the past. He wants to be given a non-religious funeral after his death. He doesn’t want a religious funeral, which is organised in most cases for believers and non-believers alike.

Harry explained that it did not make sense to take his dead body to a church that he never attended during his lifetime. Or have him buried in the name of a God he never believed in. He noted that even though he would not be conscious of where or when or how he would be buried or the kind of funeral – religious or secular – that would be held for him, he would still appreciate a non- religious funeral. But Harry said he was not sure the family would abide by his wish. He told me that last December he was very ill and feared he would not recover. So he invited some of his family members and instructed then not to take his body to any church if he died. But the request was coldly received. Harry thinks his family would hold a religious funeral for him. My friend, Harry, is not alone in this. Most African Humanists find themselves in a similar predicament. They live their lives not professing any religion and not believing in God. They live their lives as atheists, agnostics and free thinkers but when they die, they are given a religious funeral by their family members against their will, wishes and beliefs.

Actually, there are many Humanists in Africa who do not care about ceremonies. They think it is pointless worrying about the kind of funeral one is given after one’s death. They are content with living their lives as Humanists.

“After all, when one is dead, one is gone so why bother about what people say or do with your corpse or at the graveside,” they argue. There are still others who do not want any ceremony at all – religious or secular. They would wish their bodies to be lowered into the grave or be given out for experiment and research. And that’s all. But there are some Humanists who think they have lived their lives as Humanists and would want to be buried in a Humanist way as opposed to the religious way that is the norm. They think it would be an insult to their memory to be given a funeral that is not consistent with the beliefs, values and ideals they professed while alive. Religious ceremonies do not serve the needs of Humanists. So, Africa needs Humanist ceremonies to fulfill the needs of non-believers.

Humanist ceremonies will provide an alternative to religious ceremonies for non-religious Africans. Many Humanists in Africa want to mark all happy, sad, life stage events in a way that is free from religion, superstition and supernatural nonsense. African Humanists want to celebrate baby naming, birthdays, coming of age, marriage and anniversaries in a rational, thoughtful, commonsensical and compassionate way. They want to rejoice, mourn and mark events without prayers, without invoking the name of any God or spirit. Humanists want to hold and organise ceremonies without religious trappings or dogma.

But right now, in Africa, Humanist ceremonies are unknown. Humanist officiants are just not there. In most cases most Humanists in Africa do without ceremonies or they are forced to partake in religious ceremonies. Or have religious celebrations imposed on them. Humanists are forced to celebrate in a religious way. One of the tragedies in the cultural history of Africa and of humankind as a whole is the religions hijacked ceremonies. But now this has to change. The Humanist movement must rise up to the challenge of providing Humanist ceremonies in Africa. We need to ensure that all Humanists who want to name their children, marry, celebrate or mourn in a secular way are able to do so. Many African Humanists should volunteer to be trained as Humanist celebrants.

Provision of Humanist ceremonies should form part of the Humanist growth and development programmes in Africa. Training in Humanist ceremonies should be organised for Humanist leaders and activists across the continent. The Humanist movement should not underrate the growth potential of Humanist ceremonies. Africans like celebrations a lot. We like marking events with ceremonies. So I am convinced that more Africans will come to Humanism if they know that there are secular ways they can use to celebrate, mourn or mark events in their lives.

Leo Igwe is IHEU Representative for West Africa